New owners take over Squamish’s Wonderlands Coffee & Plants

Three minutes was all it took for two best friends to become the new owners of Wonderlands Coffee & Plants.

With a dream of drinking coffee and watering plants every day, it was a no-brainer for Josie Burke-Wilson and Liam Murphy-Burke to take over the beloved venue earlier this year.

The duo have been best friends for 20 years, and despite many thinking they are married or siblings, they just coincidentally have the same last name. 

Burke-Wilson, who also works as a realtor, first found out about the opportunity to purchase Wonderlands after she went in to buy a T-shirt, because it matched one of her tattoos. 

Within minutes of finding out the place was up for sale, she was on the phone to Murphy-Burke.

“It was three minutes. I'm not kidding you. [The previous owner] told me he was going to sell it. I walked down the street, and in my head, I thought, I want to help this guy out, and as a realtor, I was like, maybe I know someone. And then I walked away, and I went, ‘I think I do know someone!’” she told The Squamish Chief.

“I called Liam and he was just like, 'yeah, 100% [lets do it]’ and I kind of thought, OK, he's going to talk to his partner and we'll figure it out, and I called him the next day and he was like, ‘I'm in’ and that was it. 

“I think that was in November, and then we took it over in April. Then we did our renovations in May and June 1 was our soft opening.”

The same but different

While the premise of Wonderlands is still the same—a coffee and plant shop—things definitely look a little different than before. 

For starters, there are a lot fewer plants and a lot more seating. 

“The first thing we had to do was get rid of all the plants. So we did have a really big May long-weekend plant sale, which was very successful. Almost all of the plants found new happy homes,” Murphy-Burke said.

From there, they added more seating spaces indoors and outdoors to create a place where people could work from, or just sit back and enjoy a coffee. 

“There are spaces and places [in Squamish] for all adventure people, which is fantastic. But you'll notice there are no mountain photos or climber photos, or anything like that [here]. And it's not because we don't like it. We obviously do, because, look at where we live … but we wanted a space which is kind of neutral for people of all ages,” Burke-Wilson said.

“Since moving here ... I found there weren't a lot of community spaces that, if you weren't a total adventure head, really fit for you, and a lot of people obviously work from home, or they're working in more collaborative environments. So we just wanted to make a space that was for everybody.”

In short, she described the new Wonderlands as “an elevated outdoor space, with a lot more seating” where people can now buy pottery as well as merch.

“We have WiFi. We have food options now, and we have consistent hours. Basically, we're entirely different, with the bones being the same,” she said.

Murphy-Burke also added that he thinks they’ve got “arguably the best patio in Squamish.”

“Our hope is that within the next couple of months, everybody who lives in Squamish has come through the doors once, because we do feel like it is very much a new space,” he said.

While Wonderlands is located above ground, there is an elevator to ensure people of all abilities can access the space. 

Events

Another new addition to the venue is the option to host events. 

“We've hosted a few events here which have been really awesome and I'm actually really looking forward to hosting ones in the fall and in the winter, because ... it's such a nice, warm, kind of romantic vibe, which is really beautiful,” Burke-Wilson said. 

“We're trying to push more event rentals. So, anyone who wants to host anything there, we welcome that for sure.”

Bi-weekly, they also host AM Radio, where a local DJ sets up in the store and plays live music for customers to enjoy. 

“[Originally] we were really heavily going to pursue a liquor licence, and now I'm kind of thinking we don't really need to because it seems like a lot of people are seeking more sober forward events,” Burke-Wilson said. 

“I think a lot of people, especially here, they do their days so hard … that in the evening, you just want to go home and chill and kick your feet up. 

“These morning DJ sets are kind of taking off in cities ... so we got the inspiration from there.”

Set up in a boiler room style, the duo’s friend and local resident, DJ Mad Deluxe spins from 9 a.m. until noon, and customers can sit and listen, or have a boogie.

“It's kind of a cool way to start your day,” Burke-Wilson said.

As for the message they want to share with new and old customers, Burke-Wilson said it simply.

“We just want to make sure that people know that it's new, it's different, and you're going to feel really welcome here,” she said.

Wonderlands Coffee & Plants can be found at 39767 Government Road and is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day.

For more information on the new space, visit the Wonderlands social media page.

The Squamish Business Beat was developed in response to local demand for more business-focused news. To be considered, please reach out to [email protected].